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BLAZERS POST GAME QUOTES
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Final: POR 128, LAL 119
HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS
“Well it’s good to get another opening night win. Our bench was terrific. We withstood the kind of onslaught at the beginning of the game and I thought we played really good offensive basketball the rest of the night. Defensively, the Lakers pose a lot of problems, their speed, the way they space the floor, playing a lot of perimeter players. I thought we did a much better job defensively in the second half keeping them out of the paint. The first half that was tough in the first half, it was like a layup line. We kind of figured it out a little bit better in the second half.
What did you like most about the way the bench played?
“Probably the way they – I don’t want to say share the ball, but they’re unselfish. Nik got hot but I thought his shots came in the flow of the offense. In preseason, those three guys, Nik, Seth, and Evan played well together and I think that continued. Zach was really good defensively, a tough assignment guarding a three point shooter and still protecting the
rim. I probably just enjoyed the style of play, the way they played. It helps when you make shots, when Nik gets hot it makes everything look good. But I thought it was a product of the style of play.”
What was the key to the offense?
“Well, the bench was a big part of it obviously. Nik got us going. The assists really don’t show the numbers but I thought we did pass the ball well. I thought we played with good pace. It was a very high pace game, probably in large part because of them but again, getting to the bench, our offense – we had good spurts with the bench. You look at the plus minus of the bench, that was kind of evident. We played with good pace, we shared the ball, made timely shots. I liked
getting 37 threes, one of the goals of this year was to get more threes. So we’ve got enough shooters out there that we should make our share.”
On Stauskas and his game:
“Obviously it was the first half, he just really got in groove and the guy can shoot. I mean, we’ve seen it in practice and I was really happy for him to get off and start the season like that with a new team. But the shots that he made were all in the flow of the offense like I said. It wasn’t like he was searching shots but certainly he was ready to shoot when the ball came his way.”
Stauskas played with Lillard and McCollum late, have you done that in camp?
“Not really, I think during the preseason, we had that with Seth. But Nik had a game going so I wanted to keep him on the floor. It’s going to be, during the season there are going to be times when different lineups are going to be out there. Nik had earned the minutes on the court.
How did you think Harkless looked?
“Very good, he made a lot of good momentum plays, got some key blocks, a tip in. I don’t think he’s 100 percent right now but the minutes that he gave us – he was right at his minutes limit, but the minutes he gave us really made a difference, particularly against a team like the Lakers that played the lineup that they had, they were key minutes for us. Defensively, he made a nice three, but I think more it was the energy plays that he made and kept our momentum going.”
On Collins defensively, what did you like?
“Like I said, it’s a tough assignment for a seven-foot guy to be guarding a shooter like Kuzma and still be in a position to protect the rim and rebound. He’s a gamer, he enjoys the competition, he doesn’t shy away from contact or a challenge and again, he earned his minutes out there tonight.”
